Is this OK?

[Karpool]

This is my 3rd batch. I didn’t take the lid of during the boil and ended up with more wort than expected so, I kept the extra of course! After a week I’m still getting a little action out of the main batch but the little one stopped a few days ago. It’s also got this leftover from the kraeusen (I think...I don’t know what else it can be from). I also realize there is a lot of head space in that carboy.
Is this going to be bad and should I just dump it or, is it just finished fast because of the small amount?

 

[odie]

I see nothing wrong. Keg or bottle them all together. or however ur gonna do it. If a bottling bucket then just mix the two and go.

 

[micraftbeer]

For the question you posted, I agree with @odie and the little batch should be as good as the big batch. That said, there are a couple things I would comment on.

First, the chemical compound that is the precursor to DMS (creamed corn flavor) gets volatized during the boil, and you want to let that stuff be free. So boiling with the lid on lets it get out, then just condense on your lid and drop back into your beer. There are lots of well-documented studies monitoring these chemical compounds that confirm you don't want to boil with the lid on.

Second, from your picture of your fermentors, you can see sunlight on them. Of course, sunlight on beer in clear bottles can skunk them (some other chemical compound), but you also should be wary of the radiative heating effects of direct sunlight. That can cause your beer to ferment at a higher temperature than you expect, leading to off-flavors.

 

[odie]

yes yes yes...keep them in the dark...

 

[eric19312]

I disagree with the concern about boiling with lid on. There are a lot of variables in play and I doubt you are going to have issue with DMS on this beer. Unless you are brewing in a pressure cooker the DMS and precursors will get boiled off lid or no lid. And clearly this is not a mostly pilsner beer.

 

[Karpool]

Second, from your picture of your fermentors, you can see sunlight on them.

That’s and LED room light shining through another carboy in front of the others. I only turned it on to take the pic.

 

[Karpool]

I disagree with the concern about boiling with lid on. There are a lot of variables in play and I doubt you are going to have issue with DMS on this beer. Unless you are brewing in a pressure cooker the DMS and precursors will get boiled off lid or no lid. And clearly this is not a mostly pilsner beer.

I’ve read a lot about this as well. I’m on a Brewzilla and a lot of guys using that are leaving the lid on to help keep temp. It’s a lot of work on that machine to keep the temp at a boil. This time I actually just forgot to take it off though. And, this is a chocolate vanilla cream stout!

 

[VikeMan]

First, the chemical compound that is the precursor to DMS (creamed corn flavor) gets volatized during the boil, and you want to let that stuff be free.

Unless you are brewing in a pressure cooker the DMS and precursors will get boiled off lid or no lid.

Just one nit... DMS's precursor, S-methyl methionine (SMM), doesn't get boiled off. Heat converts it to DMS, and it's the DMS that can boil away. SMM itself is nonvolatile.

 

[micraftbeer]

I went to Homebrew Con in 2018 in Portland (back when you could do those sort of things in person...). There was a really good presentation Martin Brungard gave on boil time. If you're a member of the AHA, you can look this up in presentations from the 2018 convention.

There was a lot of interesting info in there related to DMS, and boiling, as well as curves of SMM based on different malts. If you have access, and you're interested in this topic, it's definitely worth looking it up. There is so much in this hobby that is opinion based and anecdotal, that it's nice to see data. Since everyone has different taste threshholds for different flavors, just because someone said "I've done it this way and never noticed a problem", doesn't mean their advice will work for your palate.